Chapter 3: Ship

The boy woke up, hearing the voice that he had listened to earlier. It upset the boy, he felt as though he was not in complete control of himself. Yet, the thoughts did not last long as the voice continued on, spouting dialogue akin to a computer or some sort of automaton. The boy was not sure of which, but he was sure the voice was beginning to become annoying with its drollest antics. So the boy decided to speak.

“Quiet! MY GODS, it’s like a damn typewriter is going off in my head!”

The voice stopped immediately, which made the boy worry a little. But as fate would have it, the voice began once again.

“Subject is lucid indeed, will need to forgo previous ideas of self-motivation. Hello Subject, my address structure is Tehran. What you and your race would call a name. How exciting! If we may begin, I think it is imperative that we introduce each other thoroughly and begin our search at once! Time is fleeting after all.”

The Boy felt the voice, or Tehran as he called himself, relaying information, and yet none of the words he used seemed to make sense to the boy. It was if he was speaking a different languag.

“What are you talking about? Who are you exactly and what the hell are you doing in my head?”

Tehran made sounds that reminded the boy of a computer when the fan was in high motion.

“As previously mentioned, I am Tehran and I am talking to you, Subject, about our mission, which involves finding the rest of my kind whom have been waiting for us to wake them. The others will be needing to be revived as well as their Subjects too, so we must be hasty to insure that they have survived. As for your final question, you put me in your head, do you not remember?”

The boy could not, and he was pretty sure he would have remembered sticking whatever Tehran was inside his head if that was the case. The fact was the boy had many things he was not sure of in his head. He could not recall where he had gotten his metallic skin, nor the tendrils that he felt on his back. His memories seemed to be just in reach, but he could not grasp their meanings. Even his name seemed foreign to him and he could not recall.

It was then as the boy thought over this that he felt Tehran do something in his mind. The fan noise became louder, drowning out the boy’s own thoughts and replacing them with a euphoric merge between him and Tehran. He began to realize that Tehran was scanning his thoughts, trying to decipher and understand his new Subject that he had been bonded too. Yet Tehran was also unsuccessful, and was only able to pull some information from his scanning, from what the boy could see.

“Sad, it would seem our time in stasis has harmed your cortex’s memory center. You truly do not remember our bonding at all?”

The boy shook his head, sadness creeping into his thoughts once more.

“Who am I Tehran?”

“Truthfully Subject your information is tied to mine. Even I no longer have access.”

This made the boy upset, which seemed to rattle Tehran as he spoke louder.

“It would not be right to refer to you as Subject, so in the spirit of our bond I shall come up with a name that would fit you.”

Tehran once again began his thinking process, but the boy asserted control before he could begin.

“I shall name myself, I don’t need you to make one up for me Tehran. Besides, it wouldn’t seem right if it came from you, I barely know you as it is.”

Tehran thought for a moment, and with a fizz stopped his processing.

“You do seem to regard that as important so I will abide by it. And I shall also attest to solving the problem of you not knowing me, as you put it. It would be wrong for our bond to be tarnished by mistrust. Well then, what shall you be called?”

The boy thought, trying to delve into the thoughts that he struggled to reach, for some sort of inspiration. At first, it seemed futile, but just as he gave up, a vision of a word appeared in his head. Garin. It was something that reminded him of his father and mother. A memory of a time when he was young and innocent. It was the only thing he could recall, so he decided then.

“Call me Garin.”

“Ah, strange that you would pull it from that thought, but it is as you wish Garin and I shall respect that. In the future though, I request the privilege to name something new if we should find it.”

Garin laughed at the thought, but he decided that there was no harm in it so he conceded to Tehran’s wish. Tehran was delighted by the prospect, and systematically came up with several names for things that they may encounter. Resting his eyes, Garin decided that he had heard enough from the voice in his head, drowning him out with the sound of snores.

…

Garin woke up in what he assumed was a spacecraft.

It was a strange feeling of weightlessness coupled with the shift of a moving vessel and the fact that his ears hurt from the pressure. Though what came next brought him in a panic. He realized at once that he was tied together, a strange dense rope held him in place and steel bolts were placed on his sides to prevent him from moving. He thought of screaming, but quickly realized it would do no good here. He had no help but the voice in his head, and so far he was still preoccupied in names. Relaxing himself, Garin inched his left tendril just enough to push onto the rope. As he began sawing at the rope with the tendrils sharp edge, he noticed a figure move in the corner of the room. Freezing, he watched slowly as the feline approached him. She moved herself to stare him in the eyes, her irises contracting to the shift in light. Garin saw the green tint of the night vision as she settled near his confinement.

“So you awaken, it is about time as well. We should be arriving soon.” The feline had planted that strange device on him earlier, but it seemed that her language was just as easy to understand as his own native tongue now. It made Garin wonder what other technology this Feline’s race possessed. It also made him wary, for he knew nothing of her or her people. What would they do with him and Tehran? One thing was certain.

He would not be held as a prisoner.

He stretched himself enough to shoot out his tendril once more, this time separating the binds on his legs and arms in one fluid strike. The bolts held under the duress, but their cries of stress were plain to hear. Pushing himself further Garin stretched the bolts bending them away from him so they no longer held him down. Pushing himself upright Garin turned to face the feline.

She pulled out a device that glowed with a green light. The device began to light up and inside the contraption a dull glow emanated. She looked determined to use the device.

Not willing to find out what it might do, Garin reached out and snatched the device, latching his tendril to the side of the machine. The device shot out a massive green bolt which bounced off the wall, dashing with incredible speed. Garin ducked, shielding himself with his arms as he saw the light travel. It traveled so fast it resembled a pinball, dashing and bouncing with even more ferocity. It finally landed near a doorway, hitting another feline in the chest. The bolt sunk into the feline’s flesh, and the cat creature fell unconscious.

Garin turned to the feline girl, staring at her eyes with cold determination of his own. She was frozen, perhaps in fear or shock Garin could not tell, but immobile she was. Still clutching the device in his hand, Garin turned to aim it at her.

The device, from what Garin could see was no longer on. Suddenly, the machine seemed to be dismantling itself in Garin’s tendril. All the while, the metal skin he wore seem to alight with the same green glow the Device one held, lighting himself and the room with the eerie colors. At last the machine was gone, not a piece of it remained intact. His suit however changed, matching the sickly green color and the intense light it once gave. Curious, Garin moved his tendril over to the doorway were the Feline male was unconscious. He aimed his palm at the creature, and a burst of green light shot outward, smashing into the body. The blast did no damage from what he could see, but the green emanations sunk into the flesh just as the pinball had earlier. Garin’s suit glowed less after the discharge, but a few moments later the iridescent light came back.

He heard a scream as the feline turned to assault him. Her face was a mixture of rage and fear, and Garin was not ready. She shoved him aside with massive force, smashing him against the wall of the vessel. It creaked with his impact and the ship moved with it. Pushing himself out Garin put out his tendril in front of himself, making a barrier between him and the Feline. She was furious now, no hint of fear remained in her blue eyes.

“Stop, I don’t want to fight.”

She held her gaze, her voice a deadly tone.

“Get back on the table, now!”

“No,” Garin said, his stance firm.

She looked ready to pounce, until another voice echoed through the room. “Landing will be in two minutes, everyone brace for impact.”

The steely gaze on the feline’s face faded to worry. She turned to look over the body of her fellow feline, pulling him up and placing him on a nearby wall. The wall seemed to latch to him with a series of belts and harnesses, sucking him in place. She turned her back to the wall as well, shoving herself in place. Once she was secured, she turned over to Garin.

“You best do the same cub if you don’t want to break your neck when we land.” She seemed to mean the last part of the sentence from the tone of her voice. So Garin rushed over to her, laying his back against the wall and waited for the harnesses to latch onto him. A few seconds passed, but nothing happened. He faced the feline.

“What’s going on, why is it not working?”

She looked as confused as he felt.

“It must be malfunctioning, quick grab onto something!”

Garin looked around for anything to hold onto, but nothing seemed solid enough. He began to panic as he felt the descent coming, the shift in gravity as he began to float slightly. Lashing out, he plunged his tendrils into the bottom and top half of the hallway. Pushing with all his might, he braced for the impact. He screamed as he felt the drop, his vision blurring with blackness once again.

…

Garin awoke once more, though this time he felt no restraints but a small band across his waste, holding him to a soft bed. He pushed himself upright to look, but a sharp pain held him down. Gasping for air, he turned to his left where a large chunk of metal was lodged. He could feel it under his skin, jagged edges cutting every time he twisted wrong. He cried in pain, his tears flowing freely as he laid there. It was as he cried that he heard the familiar voice of Tehran. Tehran seemed to comfort him just by being there, which seemed strange as Garin knew the voice only existed in his head. Tehran felt like his only comfort in this strange world though, and hurt as he was Garin wasn’t ready to let that go. So he waited for Tehran to do something, say anything at all.

In one single horribly painful moment, Tehran took control on his left arm pulling the jagged piece of metal straight out of his body. It came out easily, but Garin could not help but scream in surprise and pain as it erupted from his body. Glowing silver blood oozed from his wound, which would have terrified Garin had he not been in blinding pain. All the while, Tehran was humming slightly in his head as Garin cursed him and his lousy whistling. The pain however, slowly began to subside. Garin felt a burning, itchy feeling come across his entire body, which covered all other senses including the pain. The silver blood he neglected before seemed to come alive, and with it a sense of relief. It glazed over his wound, covering the entire gaping hole in a clear translucent sheen. Finally, it melted in place and a rush of blue light fed into the wound, sealing his body from the outside once again. The pain was still there after the seal, but it slowly began to fade over the hour. Forcing himself upright again, Garin stared at the massive wound he had sustained slowly fade away, turning into his metal form once more.

“You’re Welcome.”

The voice of Tehran gave Garin a mix of rage and relief, leaving him speechless to the sly and witty remark. He gave his thanks to the voice, but quickly lashed out.

“Where were you when that cat thing was attacking me? For crying out loud she could have been killing me and you wouldn’t have noticed!”

“Priscilla.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I decided to name the feline Priscilla, fascinating name and for one so elegant and strong it is a perfect fit if I do say so myself. Which I did! I truly am amazing. I’m sorry what did you say Garin?”

“Oh I apologize, I was just mentioning the fact that ‘Priscilla’ as you eloquently put it was trying to kill us! And the other minor detail that at the time you were, how you said it, fitting a name for her? Fancy that.”

“It was very clear she meant no harm to you, but I can see why you would make that assumption.”

“What?”

“Dear me you ask a lot of questions for something who shares a mind with another being, who just happens to be mixed with your thoughts as well.”

Garin fumed inside his head, which seemed to make Tehran a little nervous from what he could tell.

“Alright I’ll explain Garin. Think for a moment, were she trying to kill you why would she put you in restraints? Seems a waste if you ask me. Also that weapon we adapted was meant as a stunning weapon, from your blatantly obvious test. That poor creature, I think I’ll name him Ned! Anyways, it was very clear the moment you had awoken that she wanted to keep you alive, hence no danger was present. Why did you feel the need to assault her anyway?”

“She’s an Alien, she is something I have never seen before in my life. Why the hell would I trust something I don’t even understand; especially with my welfare? Seems like asking for death doesn’t it?”

“No not really, asking for death was when you didn’t put on the harness on a moving vessel which was clearly about to land.”

“Argh!”

“Terribly sorry, I don’t seem to understand that response. Though maybe it would be best if you made yourself a little friendlier to Priscilla, seeing as she is looking after you.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Why would she do that?”

“Seeing as she is sleeping in that other bed, perhaps we should ask her?”

Garin blinked, turning to his right as he noticed the Feline was also in a bed, her eyes closed and a soft breath escaping her lips as she rested. It was clear she sustained injury as well.

Her arms were bandaged together holding them across her chest as she rested, akin to a mummy Garin noticed. Her left eye was covered in a patch, with most of her fur on her neck burned off, revealing some tender skin underneath. Her nose was bloody, and her leg was in a brace extending down to her strange contorted legs that reminded Garin of a mountain lion, only vertical.

Sighing, Garin laid back on the bed, noticing his surroundings since it was clear that Priscilla was not awake. From what he could gather it was some sort of army hospital, a large tent encompassed the ceiling and the soft rounded ground was packed in. It was that same ground that caught Garin’s attention, for the ground seemed to be littered in rubies. Hard red rock formations stretched across the floor, and the rubies themselves seem to glow as the light hit them from the flaps outside. Garin’s mind raced with possibilities of what it could mean. Rubies, perhaps the felines did not know their worth or how much one chunk would cost back on Earth. Garin was laying on a jackpot.

“Don’t bother with that thought Garin,” Tehran said offhandedly.

“Why not, this place is a prime mining operation! We could be rich with all these rubies and minerals we just need-,”

“-To get it mined, decompressed and packed. Also it’s completely useless here anyway since there’s no one here to buy the rocks anyway. Garin, I may have failed to mention this before, but you’re not on Earth.”

“Earth, wait what?”

“Probably due to your faulty cortex, but yes this is not your home world my friend. This is a planet you and your kind came to long ago. It feels strange telling you this again seeing as you knew this when we bonded the first time.”

“Tehran get to the point, what is this place then anyway?”

“This is Sate, Garin, this is the home world of my people.”

“Wait, your people? Just who exactly are you Tehran?”

“I’ll help with that query later, it seems our dear Priscilla has awoken.”

Sure enough, Garin turned to see the cat creature staring at him, her mangled form seemingly lithe and fit once more. The bandages came off smoothly, her arms looked healthy once again, and the cast was stripped open, revealing her already healing leg injury. As Garin stared, he saw the cat creature’s body repair itself in front of his eyes, knitting flesh and sinew back together in seconds. It was akin to his own healing he realized, yet it didn’t involve anything regarding metal. Her regeneration seemed natural, flesh and bone coming together in unison, while his was the abnormal reaction, metallic and constructed. She even had red blood from the look of her other wounds. It made him question what exactly he had become when he bonded with Tehran.

Was he a monster?

Regardless, he faced her and began.

“Look, Priscilla I am sorry for what-,”

“-Do not get me started cub, you and your recklessness almost cost me my life. And what did you just call me?”

“Umm, well… you see … my kind… likes to give things names. It helps us understand things a little better. So I called you Priscilla because it makes me feel better to call you something, other than feline.”

“Hmm, strange customs, but I suppose it’s no different than calling you cub. Anyway, what in the five hells were you thinking? The restraints were for your protection! My gods, if I didn’t have the metal attractor to hold you to the ship you would have been landed on!” She took several pained breaths, clearly winding herself from exertion. She continued relentlessly, “Now you will do as I say or so help me I will toss you to the nearest Maeket and watch it as it chews on your insides, got me?”

“Yes I understand, I’m sorry again… I just… please understand, I just woke up and all of this is happening so fast. I know nothing about you or your people, and a large centipede wearing a face like one of your kind just happened to try to kill me. I… I’m terrified. I can’t even remember who I am.”

Priscilla looked at him, her eyes narrowing in thought. She looked to the floor as she pushed herself upright, testing her leg for movement.

“Tell me then cub, what shall I call you if you know nothing of yourself?”

“Garin. My name is Garin.”

“Most of my kind call me Naomi, but to help you understand you may call me this… Priisssceela as you put it.”

Satisfied with her leg, Priscilla held out an arm to Garin, motioning him to stand with her other hand. As she pulled him up, Garin felt her hand clench on his arm. Her claws were out, holding into his metal form as she made him face her. Her eyes, a blue ocean of tempered concentration, pierced his own.

“Now Garin, you must keep your words to yourself for now. My Commander is waiting on my reports and I will present her to you. In my people’s eyes you are an outsider, a nonexistent entity. If you try to communicate with anyone, they will attempt to kill you. You must be seen as an equal to the pack before you may speak. I will stress this only once, silence is your friend right now Garin, do not make me regret helping you.”

Garin nodded slightly, which Priscilla seemed to understand as his confirmation. Satisfied, she placed a small device on his wrist. It looked as though it was a tiny battery. With a click of her wrist, the battery came to life and drifted his hands together, locking them in place.

“What’s this?”

“To keep you from moving, though I believe that was obvious.”

“I get that but why?”

“Silence Garin! You are nothing until you are named and as such you must be bound until the Commander says otherwise. Now do not speak again!”

Garin kept his silence, grudgingly allowing the bracers to be snapped to his wrists. His tendrils were equally restrained with a similar set of bracers. Each of the bands had a symbol on it

(T)

From what the translator told him, the markings meant nameless in Priscilla’s tongue.

Great, I got a name only to lose it. Typical.

Tehran took the moment to continue, seeing as Garin was no longer able to speak.

“So as I was saying, this is Sate Garin, the home of my People the Cheruv.”

“Cheruv huh?” Garin said in his head

“Precisely. Your kind just happened to find mine once in a great long time ago. In fact it was roughly six centuries ago according to my internal records. Such a misguided time, but so enlightening. Finding new species, creating some, evolving others. It was a rather explorative time for our two races. Until, well…”

“Well what?”

“Perhaps this is a better conversation for another time. I would not sully our first moments of cognition with talks of conflicts. Besides, it would seem Priscilla is ready to go. We should make a good first impression on her… gifted people.”

Garin agreed, better to have friends in a strange place than strange enemies. So he walked, tied together like a pig ready to be put on a spit and roasted. Upright he walked with Priscilla as she made her way out of the tent.

The outside opened up to Garin for the first time. The world, Sate as Tehran called it, was something awe-inspiring. The ground was littered with emeralds, rubies, diamonds, topazes, and glowing jade as far as he could see. It was as if the forest floor around him was alive with gems, growing out of the ground, twisting into shapes and forms that almost mimicked the forests he knew on Earth. Trees spun and woven from rock and stone. Peridots and amethysts dotted the canopies, giving the shaded ground a glow of greens and purples. The gravel itself was just as vibrant, with chunks of obsidian and jet. And the suns were afire with a piercing white, which made the colors even more exotic.

As he took in the sights, losing himself in the beauty Priscilla nudged him forward.

“Forward Garin, the Commander is waiting on us.”

Garin only nodded, adopting the silence rule as he focused on following her through the gemmed forest. The Forest itself responded with their movement, and jagged pillars of gemstones and rock seemed to bend with their presence. The moving stone began to unnerve Garin.

Is it truly alive, or am I imagining all of this? It’s too incredible to be real. How could I possibly forget something like this?

The questions hung in his mind as she led him through, checking back on him to make sure he followed. She sighed, saying something Garin could hardly make out. Tehran however heard it clearly.

“She’s praying to Seta, from what I can gather. Perhaps a goddess of her people, though it may be wise to wait until we are so called ‘named’ before we blather out blasphemies to them. Seriously, like a person as important as a deity would be bothered with her words. I suppose it must give them some comfort, but it makes very little sense to me. There is but one Goddess.”

Now Garin was interested.

“Goddess? You mean you believe in one?”

“Of Course! She gave us the life we now share. How could I not believe she exists when she gave us our lives? I miss the old you, he wasn’t so stupid.”

“Thank you prick, I appreciate the fact your making fun of the past me when the present me has no knowledge, it’s very enlightening. Now if she is so important then what’s her name?

“I just told you, it’s Sate.”

“No, Sate’s the planet, I am certain you said that.”

“She is, but she is also a Goddess.”

“She can’t be both!”

“Why the hell not then Garin? Does a Goddess have to be a figment of your imagination to be believable? Sate is both, she is the one responsible for our bond. But she is also the planet itself. We talked to her.”

“We?”

“My people, we were her protectors, she created us to make sure that her world was safe from, well, foreign enemies.”

“Foreign? Wait are you saying-.”

“Garin, the Commander is ready for us.”

Garin snapped out of his conversation, realizing that he was inside a rather large tent. The walls seemed to be dotted with fresh scales and furs, from creatures Garin couldn’t identify. Stripes and shells dotted the sides, but the strangest of all was the Commander’s Chair. On the top of the long chair a head of a massive deformed scarab lay on it, dotted with black eyes and specks of decaying flesh. Under the chair stood what he could only assume was the Commander.

She was a Tiger breed from what Garin saw, her face aligned with stripes and white fur. Her eyes were massive brown spheres that pierced with a stare that froze Garin stiff. Her body was tough and scarred, which to Garin showed that she must have seen her share of battle, and her hands were claws filled to points, retracting and detracting with a strange rhythm. She was surprisingly lithe as well, except for her legs which were gargantuan. Garin could make out a flex of the muscle that seemed to spring to life with the beat of her heart.

She was the single scariest creature Garin had ever met, and she did not look amused.

“Pack Leader, you were given orders to scout the Temple of the Cheruv and to report back in seven hours, that was three days ago. What is the meaning of your tardiness? And who is this nameless monstrosity you bring before me?”

Priscilla moved forward and bowed, fully to the floor with her legs arching from bending so far.

“I am shamed Commander, I did promise to return several days ago, but I will explain my actions. The Temple as you know was recently taken by the Skiritix, and as the best scout available I chose to enter the structure myself while the pack made a perimeter in case their Horde came. It was inside the structure where I discovered the Nameless one here. He was encased in a cage of light and mirror, from which I freed him from. I provided him the All-speak, and he revealed himself to me. Together we had destroyed a Vanguard that had followed me inside the structure. The Nameless One, is a warrior of unparalleled ferocity Commander. I have seen him rip the very ground up to shield himself and use the very skin he wears as a weapon to fight. But after so long in his tube he fainted and I had to carry him back to the pride.”

The Tiger Commander scowled, contemplating what was said. Visibly she looked up, staring straight at Priscilla. “This does not explain the wait, what you described could be accomplished in hours, yet you were gone for days? Explain!”

Priscilla looked down at the floor.

“I secured The Nameless inside the vessel, but as we ascended he awoke. He freed himself from the restraints and threatened one of the pack. I attempted to incapacitate him, but his resourcefulness interrupted my efforts. As we made our descent he braced himself for the impact our landing brought. He was jettisoned from the landing, and buried under the ship. We spent a day and a half trying to dig him up, and when we were successful his skin erupted.” She turned to Garin, “Show the Commander Nameless. Show her your weapons.” Garin stared back at Priscilla’s cool blue eyes, and with a sigh, pushed out his massive tendrils from his back. The room visible breathed and most of the onlookers regarded him with awe. It was unsettling to say the least.

The Commander seemed unimpressed. “So these things prevented you from arriving on time? These were the cause of your delay?”

Priscilla turned to meet the Commander, “No, it was when the weapons injured the pilot and we had to fly the ship manually which caused another delay. My Second was the co-pilot, so she was not trained fully to pilot the ship. It took us more time because of this. As such, it is with the conclusion of my report Commander that I accept the responsibility of the actions of the Nameless and the tardiness of my pack. I am ashamed.” She lowered her head once more, awaiting the rule of the Tiger Commander.

The Tiger was contemplating, which to Garin looked like she was wondering if she was going to roast Priscilla alive or kill her first to save her the misery of burning. His anger began to flare, why should she be subject to the whim of this enraging creature? With a look of daggers, Priscilla stared back at Garin, and Garin knew then that he would be making a mistake if he spoke. So mimicking Priscilla, he bowed his head, kneeling to the Commander as she contemplated their fate.

The people gasped again at his actions, and Priscilla herself seemed to open her eyes in awe at his actions. The Commander herself was rather taken aback as well her eyes uncertain as she stared at him.

“You kneel? One who does not know us and yet you kneel? Speak Nameless! Tell me why this is?

Garin spoke slowly, but clearly, “In my land, this is a sign of respect and humbleness. It is the way we treat those who would be higher than ourselves. I am to believe that you hold my fate, yes? Then I shall show you the proper respect befitting that decision.”

Garin wasn’t sure if the last part was himself or Tehran, but it had the desired effect. The other Felines, Priscilla included regarded him with smiles and warmth. This translated to the Commander, who joined them slightly, still giving her cool expression. Yet through her face, Garin recognized he did the right thing. She sat back in her large chair, bringing her hand to her chin and resting on it.

“It is clear, that this One is a warrior. It is also clear that he is not of us or the Touak. Yet, he shows us respect as a Sheok would, so as such I name you Sheok-si. May you be heard and accepted. Go in peace fellow Sheok-si.” The Commander smiled wider than Garin though possible, and the other Felines cheered in approval. Priscilla pulled him up to standing as the rest of the Felines embraced him in hugs, asking questions that he could barely make out. And as he stood in the mob of alien beings, Garin felt a tug of a smile reach his own lips, as he cheered with the rest.

…

Garin stared at the fire that engulfed the center of the camp, with the dancing and celebrating of the Sheok around him. Sheok, it meant the wandering people in their native tongue, which Garin could only assume was made up of snarls from what he witnessed. He wondered if that was what he sounded like when he spoke to them. The merriment of the naming ceremony seemed to be dying down, and the rest of the Sheok were heading to their tents. They all were asking him, prodding him really, about what he was. Was he a god made flesh or some kind of providence to come and steer their people? After so many questions, it felt good to calm himself and stare at the dancing flames. It reminded him of something important, something he should know about himself. Yet, the thought always escaped him much like the rest of his memories. He smiled thinking about the wayward thought and his boundless attempts at trying to remember. It seemed like fate was trying to make him forget, but fighting in his head wouldn’t get him anywhere. He’d just have to be patient.

He smirked at himself, it sounded like something Tehran would say.

“You rang?”

“Sorry I was enjoying a quiet moment here. No need for you to bring yourself in.”

“I don’t mind at all, I can be very quiet after all, in fact I have been quiet for the past 500 years. So this is nothing new to me.”

“Good then, shut it and let me think.”

“You’re thinking right now, you know this right?”

“What will it take to shut you up?”

“Well, I suppose a conversation, much like this one would do. Although, it does conflict with your primary objective I do say. So I will give an easier alternative.”

Tehran’s presence inside Garin’s mind began to shift, it was as if a small worm was working itself through his hair, slithering through as it ruffled his mind.

“There we are. I found the damage.”

“What damage?”

“Your memory cortex, the part that was frozen anyway. Being locked in a cryogenic tube has that distinction to it. Anyway, it’s very clear that this is what is preventing you from accessing your dormant memories. Your mind has not fully recovered. As such I shall do my best to fix this aberration, however it will take time, and due to your nature of questioning everything I do, I shall tell you now that I cannot guarantee success that you will remember everything you had learned. Your mind has had too much stress to promise such a thing. So while I am fixing this issue, I have a proposal.”

Garin shifted uncomfortably.

“What did you have in mind?”

“If you allow me access to your memories, I will share with you my own. At your request of course. No strings beside the fact that you cannot deny me anything I deem worthy as I could not deny you from mine. Do you comply Garin?”

“Why do I get the feeling that there’s a catch, besides what you have told me?”

“Because you’re smart, otherwise I wouldn’t have chosen you as my brother. And seeing as I am correct, I will tell you why, by doing this, we will become even more connected. Inseparable. If we were to do this, we would fully become one being in the end. You would no longer be the person you still claim to think you are. Are you willing to let go of yourself to understand who we are? What we have become?”

Garin’s eyes widened at the thought. Inseparable that’s what he said right? Would he lose who he is now to some automaton he barely knew? Too many questions, too much knowledge.

He wasn’t ready for that.

“I will consider it, but not now Tehran.”

“I see. This will slow the time it takes to repair our mind, but perhaps it is for the best, at least for now. I shall continue in my work, but Garin?”

“Yes?”

“Know this, I have sacrificed much to protect my people, to preserve our ways and our lives. If we did this, I too would be giving something I hold dear. Remember that.”

“Ok, talk to you later… Tehran.”

“Indeed I am sure you will.”

With the last of the strange feeling gone, Garin tried to focus back on the calming flame that danced with the night sky. The fire did not bring the same effect as before, but instead brought about a feeling that he wasn’t sure was his. It was as if part of his thoughts saw the fire as nothing more than a tool, and the practical uses it could obtain from proper use. Torches, cooking food, even warmth against the cold. The thoughts mingled with his own, and he knew them as his, but fear clouded them just as they did when he woke up to this strange world with its people and their forests and customs.

And the voice that echoed in his mind, telling him, showing him, changing him, into something he wasn’t familiar with. If only he could remember what happened to him.